My family has lived in Washington for the past 11 years
and has loved the "family" feel of this community. Because
"family" watches out for each other, makes the most of opportunities
to help one another and doesn't just warn of danger ahead, but joins forces against
it, I'm compelled to write this letter.

Washington family, there is danger ahead. Reading
the recent articles on the possibility of a casino in the Riverside area has
awakened me to the reality that unless we join forces quickly we could be living
out the sobering findings of a study done by the 1999 National Gambling Impact
Study Commission (NGISC) comprised of nine members (five appointed by Democrats
and four by Republicans). The study's findings include: Americans
gamble more money each year than they spend on groceries. More than $600
billion is wagered legally in the United States annually. Nearly one in
five homeless people admit that gambling contributed to their poverty, and yet
37 percent said that they continue to gamble.

Gambling, like many compulsive behaviors, is addictive and
progressive by nature and is especially dangerous to the young, who are enticed
by exciting and risky behaviors. Five to 8 percent of American adolescents
are already addicted to gambling. A study of Gamblers Anonymous (GA) found
that only 8 percent were able to stop their gambling even after attending GA for
two years.

A quote from the study states: "A mountain of
evidence presented to our Commission demonstrates a direct link between problem
and pathological gambling and divorce, child abuse, domestic violence,
bankruptcy, crime and suicide. More than 15.4 million adults and
adolescents meet the technical criteria of those disorders."

Dear Washington family, do we want to be included in that
number?

I conclude with a quote from commission member Richard
Leone, president of The Century Foundation: "Gambling should be a
bedrock issue for all conservatives who care about families and the virtues of
self-reliance and prudence; and it should be the same kind of issue for liberals
who also believe in families and the importance of fairness and economic
justice. Only an aroused and informed public will change the nation's
direction on gambling. The clear message that should emerge from the work
of our commission is that the case for more gambling is far weaker than is
generally understood. It will not stand scrutin6y, and it will not succeed
if people of good will join hands to resist it."